Anchor Hoy c. 1825 by Maury S - FINISHED - 1:48 - Harbor craft - POF

[druxey]

Looking very nice, Maury. I particularly like the satin black on your rails.

[Maury S]

The original Grice drawing appears to show a "plug stock" rudder.  See the discussion on Feb. 13 (log posts 275, 276).  A round rudder post goes through a round hole in the counter / transom, thereby reducing the amount of water taken in through the hole.  I had carved out the counter to accept the (original) rectangular rudder.  That needed to be filled up and the rudder post needed building up and rounding.  The rudder was easy to build up a bit and round out to a 9" (3/16" @ scale) diameter post.  Aligning a round hole with the post was another matter. 

I chose to build a block with a correctly sized hole and fit it to the counter / transom.  I started with a piece of 1/2" square stock, marked the end-center and bored a small starter hole with the mill.  Working up through 4 or 5 sizes, I finished at 3/16" bore.  I marked a rough profile of the counter / transom and started chiseling and sanding away.  The final piece got beveled a bit on the top so water would run off.  Second mate calls it another "cute" piece.  It will not be permanently attached until the pintles and gudgeons are done and the rudder set.  Color to be yellow ocher.

Block is on its top, showing profile for transom

[Maury S]

Next up are the anchor cats.  Traditional placement and maybe a hair over-sized (measurements taken from Yedlinski's summary of Steele for a boat of approximate size).

Card is easier and more efficient than wasting wood.

Maury

[Maury S]

The cat heads have been completed.

Test fit includes cutting out part of the upper rail so it rests on top of the frame top.

A few minor adjustments, then paint.  Note the space for water to drain where the cat base meets the waterway.  Other things need attention.  Where do lines run and belay?  Eyes and rings at various places.   Where should the hawse openings go? Lots of details to deal with.

Maury

[Maury S]

Once they were test fit, the cat heads seemed to be a bit too long and a bit "heavy".  I shortened them about 12" (1/4" at scale) and tapered the top of the arm a bit.

 

I'm happier with them now.  I need to work on the simulated sheaves.  The hawse holes are another matter.  Just where to put them is wide open.  None of the drawings available show them at all.  Seems unlikely they would have just run the anchor hawse over the top of the rail.

Maury

 

[druxey]

Other hoy draughts I've seen do not show hawse holes. I suspect they simply moored hoys to a dock or wharf rather than anchor them. The Grice drawing on page one of your log doesn't actually show catheads.

[Maury S]

Druxey,

I noticed that no catheads appear on the Grice drawings, and they do appear on the drawings from Robert Cairo's entries in NRJ...(the same drawings showing the elm pumps going through the deck where the gears would turn).  They also appear on the plate in Grimwood's book and Erik Ronnberg's model (see below).  All of the later sources have some flaws.   Would not they anchor before attempting to recover a large anchor?  Would not they anchor in a harbor with a tide that would move a boat away from its working spot?  On smaller boats (35') I've sailed, we just brought the anchor line over the rail.  On larger ones (65') there was a "cathead" of sorts on the bow....but there was always an anchor on board.  I'm wide open to thoughts, and I'm inclined to fall back on Grice's drawings as the final arbiter.

 

 

Thanks for all int input!

Maury

[druxey]

Well, Grice is contemporary and is your primary source, whereas you'd already found a problem with your secondary sources and the pumps. Now, whom do you consider the more reliable witness? I rest my case, m'lud.

 

Even if there were catheads present, they would have been a simple inverted L shape, not Z shaped. (See the Cheerful cutter logs).

 

As for anchor recovery, they would move and drag until they caught the anchor. At that point they would not be moving anywhere until the anchor broke ground!

[Maury S]

A close examination of a 400% enlargement of the original Grice drawing shows both a cathead and two hawse holes. (Why two?)

Look carefully at the above view and you can see the cathead and what appears to be two holes...one above and one below the main rail on the starboard side.  The bowsprit would be at about the same level as the upper one on the port side.  There is a lot missing from the drawings...bowsprit rigging details...and I can make that adjustment.  Thanks for the comments!!!

Maury

[druxey]

I stand corrected then, Maury.

[Maury S]

Thanks Druxey.  The "L" shaped catheads are easy to correct.  I assume the port side would be the same (except for the bowsprit running beside the stempost). 

Maury

[Maury S]

Taking more of Druxey's good advice, I looked for more details on the original Grice drawings blown up 600%.  I found a significant variation regarding the shrouds between Grice and both Grimwood and Cairo.

Grice shows the shrouds outside both rails but no detail as to how they setup. The other two clearly show them inside the top rail (setup to eyes in the waterways).  Grice is careful to show other items behind the rail where appropriate.  To be outside, they would bind on the upper rail if not set to a channel which is not shown.  Unlikely arrangement for standing rigging.  But there are some other things not shown on the original drawings...topmast stays, wales, bowsprit rigging, etc...Comments encouraged!

Maury

[jbshan]

I haven't been watching lately, but catching up now I could 'like' every post, Maury.  For future reference, if you want to highlight that scarf joint, just knock off the corners on top of the rail with two licks of fine sandpaper.

David Anscherl's Swan class series has an intriguing method of doing a rudder, if you have that series.  It's one of those 'now how'd he do that' sort of things.

And... I obviously hadn't gotten up to date when I wrote that.  I was still a page out, but the Swan class series does have lots of excellent material, even if you aren't building that particular vessel.

[Maury S]

I redid the catheads, going to the design seen on Chuck's Cheerful.  They look much better now.  Another two coats of paint needed and the sheaves need attention.  Still mulling over the issue with the shrouds.

Maury

[druxey]

Much nicer looking catheads, Maury. Now the crew won't trip over them, either!

[Maury S]

The cat heads have been re-done with some modifications.  A sheave has been added at the back end of the top of the cat to redirect the tackle aft, and a cleat has been added to the vertical part.  I spent most of the weekend finishing blocks and cleats.

Maury

[druxey]

If that is a snatch block, the open side should face forward. It's hard to see whether yours do. Coming along nicely!

[Maury S]

Druxey, Thanks for the term.  Yes, the open part faces forward.  I painted the sheave Gold color to make it more visible, but you have to look closely to see it (not visible on the photo).

Maury

[Maury S]

The model has been taken off the building board to prep for planking.  First thing is the wales need to be widened to three planks.  These are under-planks and will have another piece placed on top later on.  Perfect fits are not required, but this is no time to sluff-off.  Spiling is called for.  It's started with card stock to get the correct shape, transfer to wood and cut to shape.  The following picture shows two planks for the bow area.  One is spiled, and the other is spiled, "steamed" (wrapped in a paper towel, soaked and microwaved for two minutes) and bent to shape by clamping in place over night.

A little sanding was necessary to make a good fit and it was glued in place.  The joint is as good as it gets.   Patience is required and worth the effort.

A little sanding to match the two higher planks and it will be set for the second layer.  Now to the port side.

Maury

[Maury S]

Lining out the planking:  The first thing is to determine the number of planks at the dead-flat.  140 inches, divided by 10" = 14 strakes.  There is not a great deal of difference fore and aft, so 10" planks will be the starting point.  Next is to measure from the keel rabbet to the point on the stern post where it intersects the counter.  That's where planks would go from landing vertically at the stern to almost horizontally along the wing transom.  Just about 48" so five strakes at about 10".  Dividing the planking into three bands of 5, 4 and 5 strakes works well.  Every third frame was marked using tick strips.  At the fifth tick from the keel I stretched a thread from stem to stern (David Antscherl method) initially held by some pins.  Then I put a small dab of white glue where the thread crosses each frame.  Getting that (thread) line fair is key.  I wet a finger and roll the thread up or down along each frame until it looks fair from all directions.  Picture taken before this last step.  The same procedure was followed 5 ticks down from the wale and repeated on the other side.  The band does NOT follow the thread at the bow.  It just needed to be held at the stem.

A little "Bondo" was needed to smooth out the transition at the keel for a few frames.  It will all be planked over.

Maury

[druxey]

With such an extreme 'apple cheek' bow drop planks will be inevitable. Laying out where they should come will be fun!

[Maury S]

Druxey, Yes, it's going to be a challenge.  Once the garboard plank is in, re planning the layout of planks at the bow can begin.

The garboard plank has severe twists both at the bow and the stern.  The bow portion was laid out in card first, transferred to wood, then adjusted to run fair.

Then the stern portion was shaped and twisted (hot air machine and gentle twisting).

Edge sanded where it enters the rabbet and glude in place.

THe center portion was then fit.

It needs some final sanding, then on to the other side.

Maury

[druxey]

Look like you fitted the garboard very neatly, especially the tricky bit at the bow.

[Maury S]

Back from vacation and into the shipyard...  Laying out the planking using a spreadsheet.  There are 25 frames and 14 strakes from wales to garboard. 

The rule for joints I ended up with was two strakes between joints on a frame and two frames between joints on an adjacent strake.  It seems simple now that it's laid out but it took an hour of playing around to get there.  I ended up shifting the entire pattern one frame to the right so the nearest joint to both the stem and stern is 4 frames away.  The "X" marks on the sheet show the pattern.  It would not have worked if I had included the garboard so I made sure the pattern did not line up with joints on the garboard.  On to spiling.

Maury

[druxey]

Figuring out the shift of planking is always a 'do-over' task to make things fit well! However, it's usually three strakes between each butt, not two.

[Maury S]

Thanks for the input!  I guess I mis-read my other source.  I can shift things around but I'd prefer not to remove the first strake above the garboard.  Changing to 3 strakes between makes fewer joints and gives me only one little wrinkle to the pattern at frame 19.  I'll re-do to accommodate the appropriate guideline.  It all gets painted over so I'm not highlighting the seams. 

The spiling pattern for the first starboard strake above garboard (see Primer on Planking by David Antscherl ) and the resulting plank with the required twist is shown.

It can be seen installed below.  No ugly gaps between planks.  There is some minor surface sanding yet to be done near the bow, but it's one of the better joints I've made.  Every time is a learning experience.

 

Maury

 

[Maury S]

The long voyage of planking is underway.  Four strakes including the garboard are done.  One more to complete the low band, then I'll move to the upper of three bands.  All planks are spiled and dry heat twisted to shape (except one of the bow pieces that was too brittle to bend).  Lots of minor edge sanding to get a good fit, but as has been said often, treat each piece as a project itself.  I use tick strips from the edge of each plank to the band line so there is little cumulative error.

The planks at the stern will be thinned to blend smoothly into the stern post.  No gaps.  Lots of surface sanding to be done once  all the planks are in.

Maury

 

[druxey]

Coming along well, Maury. Getting a nice planking result does take time, but is well worth it in the end.

[russ]

Your planking looks great. I agree that it takes time to get it right. Nice work.

 

Russ

[Jim Lad]

The planking is looking first class, Maury.  Well worth the time and effort you're putting in.

 

John